In the category of building industry personalities and brands that are leading their peers in how to do Content Marketing, Abel Ramirez II, creator and author of The Controls Freak blog is a stand-out. He typifies the kind of ‘jack-of-all-automation-systems’ personality that populate the world of buildings controls.

He writes:

“Many times when I am thinking of or watching something unfold that just seems so difficult or time consuming my wheels start turning and wondering how we can do something to make it easier, faster or better. “

Now he has taken on the problem of buildings-related content. He says,” The controls industry is one of the fastest advancing technological aspects of building construction. Yet if you go online and do some research you don’t find very much information available. And the information you find will be one of a few things:

1. Manufacturers sites that show catalog sheets and basic specifications of their products and that’s it.
2. Companies pitching products and devices they sell and how to use only their products in controls systems.
3. Individuals and non-product specific authority figures that are very intelligent, but sometimes speak in a higher level of technical jargon that is not easily understood.”

He launched his site to do better –  to show how easy it can be to 1) add context 2) avoid silo-ed thinking and 3) speak in an authentic voice. He’s cross-promoting his site with other like-minded controls industry marketers, like Eric Stromquist of ControlTrends.org. And he’s inviting guest authors to expand beyond his own areas of expertise. This article by Dave Craven on Wireless Network Architectures for Controls Systems informs on a vital controls industry topic. (I’ve edited whitepapers and case studies on wireless control networks for two different VC-funded start-ups – and I learned something new here.) Such articles get attention and earn a comment stream with valuable conversation. Abel has added a forum area to facilitate discussions. I could quibble about posts like The Ladies of AHR Expo 2013 – but overall I’m a Control Freak fan.